The Trail
by Darth Malleus
Summary: You don't become a Pirate without a goal and Jack Booth has that goal. He's going to sail the Grand Line, take the One Piece and become the next Pirate King. To do that he's going to need a ship, a good ship, a bad ass crew and a bounty. On paper it sounds easy but in practice it's a pain in the ass. OC Pirate Crew.
1. Son of a Pirate

_**One Piece**_

_**The Trail**_

_**Prologue**_

_**Son of a Pirate**_

"Hey boy, what's your name?"

The child was small and bony, dressed in little more than rags. The one thing which looked of any value on his person was a small oak chest, clutched in his small frail arms like his life depended on the contents. Through the dirt and grime he could see sharp, gaunt features, messy brown hair and ice blue eyes which glared right at him with all the sharpness of a hawk.

The boy didn't answer. All he did was glare right at him, as if showing his annoyance was enough to get rid of him. Jaguar sighed, and crouched down so he was almost level with the small child. The boy in return straightened, back arched against the wall he was leaning against, unable to retreat any further.

"Do you have any idea how cold it is out here?"

He wasn't kidding, it was winter now, and snow was already starting to fall from the dark clouds which blanketed the sky. He could tell this would be a particularly cold winter this year, and if he was right then this boy would not survive the night, let alone the week.

"Go away." The boy growled.

Any normal person would have heard the threat in the boys tone, and the look in his eyes would have scared most away. Jaguar wasn't most men. He stood, walked around the child and sat against the wall beside him, placing his satchel of supplies to the side. For a moment there was silence before the child's irritated voice broke it.

"I told you to get lost old man!"

Jaguar shrugged, "I always come here. You're sitting in my place."

It was a blatant lie, anyone who lived in this town would tell you, but he had a feeling the child wasn't from around here. The people of Jersey Island and of Jersey Town were good and decent folk, hardworking and honest. He knew no one on this Island who wouldn't try and help a person in need, especially a child.

The child didn't rise to the bait, but his grip did tighten on his chest. Jaguar watched this with detached interest. It was almost like the boy expected him to try and steal it. His sharp eyes watched it with pure determination.

"What are you doing out here, all by yourself?"

The boy was silent for a long moment, "Because no one will take me in, that's why."

His brow rose at the boy's declaration, "Did you ask anyone?"

The child was silent for another moment, before shaking his head. "What's the difference? No one will take in someone like me."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm a Pirates kid."

Jaguar's eyes widened slowly at that. A Pirates Kid, now that would change things on more than a few Islands. Ever since the death of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, and the beginning of the so-called Great Pirate Era countless men and women took to the sea under the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger, all with the goal of entering the Grand Line and taking the legendary treasure of the legendary pirate, the One Piece.

It had been ten years since that fateful day that started everything. In some places Pirates were hailed as heroes, in others they were cutthroat butchers. In this area of the South Blue people tended to lean more to the latter way of thinking. In this area of the South Blue, far away from the nearest Marine base, Pirates were known for raiding towns, settlements and villages and leaving a good deal of corpses in their wake.

Luckily this island had not been raided, and people here were indifferent, but the child didn't know that.

"What's your name?"

"Jack." He replied.

"Where is your father, Jack?"

"Dead."

"...And your mother?"

"Dead."

"Any family?"

His only response was a shrug.

"So you're on your own... then."

"I'm better off on my own anyway."

Jaguar was silent for a moment, reaching into his pocket and taking out a small carton of cigarettes and a lighter. He popped one of them in his mouth, lit it and took a deep drag, releasing the smoke through his teeth. The boy remained silent, but his eyes were no longer looking at the chest, rather, they were looking at the insignia engraved on his silver lighter, a Jolly Roger, a skull with a lion's mane and a ships steering wheel engraved.

"My name is Jaguar, just Jaguar. I was a member of the Golden Lion Pirates back before being a Pirate was considered cool." Jaguar laughed a little at the truth behind that statement. He had been a Pirate before every second man in the world with a ship flew the Jolly Roger. "Tell me boy, who was your father. What was his name?"

For a while Jack didn't answer, and Jaguar thought he had put himself out there for nothing, but before he could even make to stand the boy turned to him, determination in his eyes. "My name is Jack Booth, and my dad was George Booth."

Pure surprise crossed Jaguar's face when he heard that name, a name he had not heard in a very long time, not since the death of Roger in Loguetown had he heard that name. "You're the son of _Blackfist _George Booth?"

The child curled into himself and nodded his head.

Jaguar sighed, taking another deep drag of his cigarette. "I see, so _Blackfist _has gone the way of the Pirate King has he? Now that is a real shame."

And he meant it.

_Blackfist _George Booth was of the same generation as the likes of Gol D. Roger, Edward _Whitebeard _Newgate and Shiki the _Golden Lion_. He and his crew, the Booth Pirates, were considered one of the few crews which could stand up and grin in the face of the Pirate King. Booth was famous, or infamous, for several reasons. He took the Island of San Faldo without firing a shot, one of the few men who fought Gol D. Roger to a draw, and credited with decimating a Marine Fleet at the very gates of Marineford, killing a Vice Admiral in the process.

"What's in the chest, Jack?"

He clutched it ever closer, if possible. "The only thing I have of my dad."

"I see," Jaguar said, standing up and dusting himself off, he plucked the half done cigarette from his mouth and dropped it. He then towered over the child, and with one hand reached down and grabbed the chest. He tried to pull it away from him, but the kid clung to it like it was his own life.

"Hey, let go of that!"

Jaguar ignored the child's angry cries as he tore it from his grasp, and used his other hand to push the kid away when he tried to lunge at him. He gripped the lid and opened it, once again ignoring Jack as he jumped to his feet and began hitting his leg over and over. The boy had no strength, and he barely reached up to his waist.

His eyes widened at what was inside.

It was Booth's Gauntlets; he would recognise the black iron weapons anywhere. They were beautiful weapons, forged from Blacksea Iron on this very Island they reached from the tips of the wearer's fingers all the way to the elbow, and were known to weigh a hundred pounds each. To one like him such weight was no trouble, but to think that this boy, whom he guessed was maybe ten years old, to be able to lug them around was impressive.

He closed the chest and placed it on the ground, watching as the child, by this point with tears running down his cheeks, crawled over and once again clutched it in shaking arms.

"Come with me."

He then turned and began to walk, making it four steps before realising that Jack was not following him. He turned his head, looking at the child for a long moment, noticing how he shook like a leaf and sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have been so rough, but he needed to be sure that he was the kid of George Booth and not some wannabe Pirate.

"I'm not going to take your treasure from you, kid. I just want to offer you a roof over your head, warm food and a place to sleep." He said at last, taking out and lighting another cigarette.

"Why?" The kid asked. His very voice quivering as he sniffed.

He blew out another breath of smoke before turning back to Jack with a toothy grin, "Because us Pirates have to stick together, eh?"

He continued to walk. Jack was silent for a few moments, before hauling his father's chest and running after Jaguar. The second he caught up the large man put a hand on the kid's head, ruffling his messy brown hair.

"A bath might help too."

* * *

><p>He opened his eyes to broken rays of weak sunlight and to the caws of seagulls overhead. "You could have used a bath yourself, old man."<p>

He sat up and looked around. The seagulls overhead meant he wasn't very far away from land, but the damn mist hadn't cleared since he had fallen asleep. He stood up, grabbed his black cloak and put it on as he walked. Soon he was at the front of his little wooden ship, and focused his attention in front of him, growling as the mist refused to clear.

Jack Booth was now twenty two years old. It had been eight years since Jaguar had found him as a bony little kid on the street and took him in. Now here he was, a young man ready to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Pirate. The old man had been good to him, the people of Jersey Island treated him like one of their own despite knowing his heritage, and he could have had a peaceful life on that island.

He could have inherited Jaguar's Dojo when the old man finally kicked the bucket, though that seemed to be impossible with the way the old bastard never seemed to get any weaker, courted and married one of the girls on the island, and there were plenty of good looking strong spirited girls who could have pushed him around, raised a few kids and lived an honest peaceful life.

Yet here he was.

He was the son of a Pirate, about to follow in his father's footsteps.

He was the son of a Pirate, determined to tower above his father and do what he could not.

In order to do that he needed several things. He needed a crew, a good crew. He needed a ship, and last but not least he needed a bounty on his head. He could not be considered a Pirate worthy of the title of Pirate King until he had gained these three basic steps, until then he was nothing more than a wannabe Pirate.

"Fifteen men on a dead man's chest-"

The mist was thick and heavy, nothing could be seen beyond the boat.

"-Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"

A healthy breeze caught the sails, causing the rigging to shift and creak.

"Drink and the devil, had done for the rest-"

Seagulls cawed overhead, and the bodies of a few were just barely visible through the cover.

"-Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"

Come to think of it. He reached into the folds of his coat and pulled out a bottle, uncapping the cork and bringing it up to his mouth only to get nothing in return. He turned the bottle upside down, getting nothing more than a few drops of amber liquid, before sighing and tossing the bottle overboard with a splash.

"Aaaand we're out of rum."

That would explain his headache, at least.

A gong sounded, and Jack sat up, squinting in the distance. A gong like that could have only come from a bell, which means it was in a bell tower, which means that there must be dry land nearby, and civilisation. Civilisation meant a town, food, drink, solid ground and a comfortable bed to sleep on.

The mist was already starting to dissipate when he saw a pier in the distance. It was easy to manoeuvre the small ship into line with the wooden structure and tie it in place.

The gong sounded again, much closer this time and with a grin Jack turned on his heel and meandered his way up the timber path towards what he hoped was dry land. It didn't take long for the creaking wood to give way to solid ground. He looked down at the dirty cobblestones, grin growing as it dawned on him that he had, somehow, managed to sail from his home of Jersey all the way to one of the surrounding islands.

It was a first step to his goal, and he loved the feeling.

Only one question remained. Which island had he landed on?

The mist cleared, and he got his answer. To be fair the mist was so thick at the time that he didn't notice the much larger Caravel docked beside his own small boat, worn from years of sailing and by the cannon ports on its side armed to the teeth. Men were yelling and swearing, and he could hear someone sobbing. The mist continued to clear, and he saw just how big a mess he had walked onto, there must have been a dozen men surrounding him, all armed and looking dangerous in appearance. Leading to the pier where the larger ship was docked was a small pile of valuables including gold, silver, jewels, works of art and valuable artefacts all adding to a healthy sum.

He groaned as the pirates noticed him, and made to surround him. Of all the ports on all the islands in the entirety of the South Blue he just had to stumble across one which was in the middle of a pirate raid. The rising black smoke, the gutted buildings at the far side of the pier and the crackling of out-of-control flames just added to his misfortune.

"Well lookie 'ere boys!" one of the pirates crowed, hefting a cutlass in one hand and a flintlock pistol in the other. "Looks like you run out of luck friend!"

Jack idly counted thirteen men surrounding him, very unlucky number, whether that was unlucky for him or them was still up in the air. "You guys wouldn't happen to be Pirates would you?"

The vicious grin the leader was sporting widened considerably, if possible. "Well wha' gave us away?"

Jack shrugged, "Several things really, the weapons, the ruins... the smell."

He smirked at the outcries of indignation, all the while his hands were moving under the folds of his cloak, readying for the coming fight, and there was going to be a fight. He highly doubted these guys would just wave him on his way, the bloodlust which oozed off them made that clear to him. So his only chance was to fight.

"You 'ave a death wish, don't ya boy?"

Once again Jack shrugged, "Depends on hindsight I suppose. Now a few minutes down the line when you're friends come back and see your corpses they'll wonder... hey, what the hell did this?"

"Kill 'em," the leader growled.

Two men rushed forward, aiming their cutlasses right for him. Jack waited until they closed in, and then moved. He whipped his cloak over his head, bringing it between him and his two assailants. They cut through it easily, but the hindrance was all he needed. A hand encased in black iron slammed into the right ones face with enough force to snap his head back and send him flying through the air, landing in a twitching heap several feet away with a broken nose and a shattered cheekbone. The second was less fortunate. He lashed out at Jack with his cutlass, only for him to duck the strike and bring his other iron encased hand up in an uppercut which easily broke his jaw and sent him flying high into the air, slamming to the ground in an unconscious heap.

The leader could only watch with wide eyed fascination as their target stood before them without his cloak. The man he saw was tall and lean, dressed in a white vest and baggy black pants, his muscles were lean and on his hands were a pair of black gauntlets, black chains wrapped around the forearms, reaching from his fingertips all the way to his elbows. His face was pronounced with pale skin and sharp features, his hair was short and brown, and his eyes were a striking ice blue.

The pirate noticed all of this before the man grinned, a malicious grin which promised pain and retribution to all within his line of sight. "Now then, what's the name of your crew so I can carve it on your tombstones?"

That was good, he should remember that.

The leader, once so sure and sporting such a bloodthirsty grin, now looked rattled and hesitant, finally that surprise was replaced by anger. He snarled openly, raising his own sword right at Jack. "You fool! Do you 'ave any idea who we are!? We're the Maze Pirates, we _own _these waters! Our Captain is a cold blooded killer with a twelve million Beri bounty on his head!"

"Maze Pirates," Jack repeated mockingly, flexing his fingers encased in black iron and hearing a satisfying metallic creak in response. It didn't escape him that his vocabulary seemed to improve when he got angry, or was it scared? "Never heard of you, which means you're nothing and I won't waste my time on nothing."

He cracked his neck, and brought his hands up in a basic boxing pose, the black iron seemed to gleam in the peels of light which were flashing from the dying fog. "So that mean's this should be done in ten seconds."

He rushed forward before anyone could retort.

* * *

><p><em>Nobody panic about my other two stories, updates for The Good Left Undone &amp; The Wanderer will continue in good time. The reason for this little piece coming around is that, since Naruto finished &amp; I lost interest in Bleach a while ago, I started looking into the One Piece anime, all caught up now, and I enjoyed it. It has such a huge and unexplored world, the character designs are intriguing and interesting, and the overall story is pretty simple but also cool.<em>

_This story is called The Trail, a One Piece original story centred around an original Pirate Crew looking to sail the Grand Line and become the crew of the next Pirate King, like any crew worth their salt would try and do. The leader of this crew is Jack Booth, son of George Booth, both entirely original characters so you won't find them on the One Piece Wikia. I looked through a list of well known Pirates to find a cool last name that the genius author Eiichiro Oda-sensei hasn't added yet, found Booth and ran with it._

_If anyone feels déjà vu on this one that's because you might remember a guy called Nero's Legacy publishing this. It was me before anyone cries foul. I wanted to try something radical to get my writing going again and setup a new penname. I published around the same time I decided to get a grip and come back._

_As to updates, I have a rough draft of the first ten chapters, but they need serious work so this story will properly start once I finish one of the other two current works or at least start updating on them again. There will be the odd chapter every now and then once I'm happy with it but until then consider this a bit of a teaser. _

_Leave a like if you like it, a review if you love it __._

_Thanks_

_Darth Malleus_


	2. The Lone Pirate, Jack Booth

_**Chapter 1**_

_**The Lone Pirate, Jack Booth**_

Basil Maze was not one to be trifled with.

He was a man with a twelve million Beri bounty on his head. A Captain within the Maze Pirate Flotilla who had just started making a name for themselves in the South Blue, the local Marines had him on a list of felons who may one day become a threat to the World Government. He had killed, maimed, raided, enslaved and burned his way across the sea with splattered blood on his face and a murderous grin in place, immortalised on his wanted poster for all to see.

This would be his last town before he would report back to the Commodore, after nearly a month of raiding these little townships and ports he had finally gotten a decent treasure trove together, enough to please his master and enough for him to gain a small sliver of autonomy. He would be able to meet the Commodore, not as a vassal or underling but as an equal.

This particular town had been too easy. It was a new township whose people had settled down without Marine protection. These islands were outside of the local Fleets influence, and were well known to be rife with Pirates so anyone caught here had only themselves to blame.

He stalked down the main street of the port town towards the docks, his still sheathed katana leaning against his shoulder and his black longcoat snapping in the wind as he walked. He led a column of men, all carrying their fair share of plundered treasures, two were hauling a large oaken chest full of gold found in the Mayors estate, others carried boxes full of jewellery, gold and silver necklaces, bangles and rings encrusted with diamonds and gems, works of art, silverware, ornaments anything which even looked valuable was being carried now. Add that to the small group of young women they managed to catch as they raided the town and he'd say this would be the most profitable raid thus far.

"Captain, no one else is in the town." One of his subordinates called, rushing over from a sidealley. "Everyone who hasn't been killed or caught has run for it!"

Maze shrugged, longcoat shaking at the movement, "Ah well, good enough haul already. I'd say with the treasure we found and the money for this lot we'll have more money than all the other raids combined. Not bad for a day's work eh boys!?"

A chorus of roaring affirmatives was his answer, and with vicious grin still in place he led the procession of Pirates to his ship. The men he left behind must have gotten the treasure and captives stowed by now, and if they didn't, well there were several ways he could motivate them. He idly noticed smoke coming in the direction of the docks, but ignored it, more than enough buildings were smouldering by now.

It wasn't until he and his crew reached the pier that they saw that the rising smoke was not coming from the town ruins, but from his own ship. "What the hell is this!?"

His ship, the _Terror Maze_, was burning, its deck was covered in flickering flames, a large hole was punched into its portside which was even now taking in water and the very superstructure was listing dangerously in that direction. On the surrounding pier was his crew, unmoving bodies lay sprawled on the ground, their weapons scattered.

He stalked across the pier until he reached the man he left in charge, knelt down, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him into a sitting position. He was barely conscious, blood flowing from a wound in his forehead and his nose crushed but the Captain didn't seem to care, "Oi Blake, who did this... who the hell destroyed my ship!?"

For a long moment Blake didn't respond, and Maze simply shook him harder. Finally he seemed to become lucid enough to speak, but even then it was only long enough to utter three short phrases. "B-b-brown hair... black fists... B-booth!"

Even as Blake managed to utter those words the ship finally began to spin, its three sails crashing into and breaking through the wooden surface of the pier in a splinter of timber and sparks from the fire. An explosion followed, throwing those who were trying to douse the flames away and finishing off the Pirate Captains ship.

"Booth," he growled, dropping Blake and rising to his feet to inspect the damage for himself. "A man called Booth... _did this to my ship_!"

His surrounding men backed away from him, knowing that when their Captain got this angry then anyone close to him was a target. Basil ground his teeth, eyes bloodshot and face tight in barely subdued rage. He turned to look at the remains of his ship which was now unsalvageable, just its starboard side and a bit of the main-mast visible above the water.

"This man," Maze began, looking at his men with eyes filled with bloodlust and murder. "This man, this Booth... he's dead, do you hear me!?"

"Y-yes Captain," his assembled crew managed to stutter.

"Then step to it!"

"Yes Captain."

Maze glared at his men's retreating backs before taking a seat on the nearest crate and breathing in and out, deeply, trying to calm himself down before he did anything stupid. It was a setback, but all he needed to do was call the Commodore, have him send a ship to pick them up, with all of the treasure his men had taken he would be able to decompensate him for the ship, heck by him a few new ones. So long as he had the goods and those women he would be able to make amends.

He looked across the dock to where he expected the four women to be, chained together and helpless, with nothing ahead of them but to stand on the stage at the next slave market at Sawyers Peek and make him money. Only he didn't see any women there, he saw the chains, shackles seemingly in pieces but he didn't see the women.

He jumped to his feet and rushed over, confirming with rising dread that, yes, he had lost his hostages and that, yes, the shackles weren't opened but seemingly ripped to pieces. He heard rustlING, looking over to see that Blake was slowly getting to his feet, blood dripping from his busted face onto the wooden planks of the pier.

"Blake, could you answer a question for me?" Basil asked, voice sickeningly calm.

"Sir?"

"The women there, the ones we had chained up," the Captain turned to him, a look of menace in his eyes. "Where are the slaves?"

"Um?"

"WHERE ARE THE DAMN SLAVES!?"

* * *

><p>"<em>Sooo<em>... you're a Pirate?"

Jack sighed as he continued to jog down the street, his quartet of tagalongs trying and barely managing to keep up with him, well all but the girl who was asking the question. "It's like we haven't already been through this... yes I am a Pirate."

"Huh," she hummed. She was maybe a head shorter than him, with chestnut hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, tanned features and piercing dark eyes. Her dirty blue jumpsuit gave the distinction she had worked on the docks. "You sure?"

"Off course I'm sure," he replied, more tired than anything. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

She seemed thoughtful for a moment, "Well I thought that Pirates didn't just attack other Pirates, and free their captives to boot."

"Are you complaining about me setting you guys free," Jack asked, mildly surprised before a small smile came along. "Because if you want I could just knock you out and leave you all tied up on the road."

"No, no, no need," she responded hastily, waving her hands. He chuckled at her nervousness, now that was more like it. Truth be told he knew exactly why he wanted to free them, but he wouldn't tell anyone why or his reputation he would be carefully building would be ruined before he could even get started on it.

Eventually they came to a stop, well he had no other choice but to stop. The ponytail was keeping up with him fine, but the others looked like they were exhausted, obviously more exercise than they were used too. Jack looked them over, seeing a few with hands on their knees, chest heaving, panting for breath. He was not going to be getting anywhere like this.

He looked around.

The town was silent. Well that was to be expected. What Jack saw as he took a few steps down one of the side streets was emptiness. Not a single person could be seen, those windows which had not been shattered were closed, curtains drawn, doors which hadn't been kicked down were closed and locked, stalls were empty, crates and other belongings scattered the ground as if those carrying them threw them aside in their escape.

He stopped, looking up at the remains of a building, fires extinguishing as there was nothing else to burn, leaving nothing more than a smouldering wreck of rubble. A doll lay a few feet away, beady vacant eyes looking up at the overcast sky. This was the aftermath of a Pirate raid, those people who hadn't died or been caught had fled and were probably hiding deeper within the island, terrified out of their minds.

Jack sighed, once again lamenting his misfortune, of all the islands in the entirety of the South Blue he just had to land on one in the middle of a Pirate raid. What was worse was that with the destruction of their ship these Maze Pirates were now stranded on this island, so there was no chance of them packing up and leaving once they had their fill of looting and carnage.

He hoped his boat wouldn't be found, but doubted it, all he did was throw a basic camouflage net over it, and he was sure that wouldn't fool anyone with half a brain.

The way he saw it he had two choices. The first was to scavenge the provisions he needed, get back to his boat and sail away when the Pirates weren't looking, and the second choice was to take on these Pirates, defeat them and then set sail anyway. He didn't like the idea of creeping around like some second rate thief, so that left taking them all head on.

He looked down at his father's gauntlets, watching as his fingers flexed with a satisfying creek of metal. He had trained every day for the last twelve years for this moment, for the beginning of his voyage to the Grand Line and claiming the One Piece. He thought he was ready, but there was no way to be sure until he was in the thick of it, and to be honest he had hoped to have at least a few crewmates recruited before attempting something like this.

Oh well, couldn't be helped.

"Hey," ponytail asked, her face just a few inches away from his own, making Jack just stop himself from jumping in surprise. Lord have mercy did this woman not seem to understand the concept of personal space? "What ya thinking about?"

Jack huffed, taking a step back and placing his iron hands on his hips, "Nothing that concerns you."

"Wow harsh," she muttered with a hint of sarcasm under her breath.

Jack frowned, "You know most people would have at least a slightly healthy amount of fear when speaking to a Pirate."

She folded her arms under her bust, smiling challengingly, "Well I'm not most people."

"I figured as much, tomboy." Jack muttered.

"You say something?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"Nope not a thing," Booth replied dismissively as he began to walk down the side alley. "Come on girls keep up, unless you want to be back on the pier in chains!"

Ponytail huffed but upon seeing the fear in the other girls eyes she forced herself to relax, giving them a brave smile. "Don't worry, we'll make it."

They nodded, and followed after her.

"Stay at least five meters behind me," Jack ordered over his shoulder. "If we run into trouble it'll give you lot at least some time to escape."

He turned into another side-alley, not noticing the trip wire until his foot collided with it. He looked down at the glint of steel, eyes wide, as the explosives kicked in a few moments later. The explosion tore through the side alley, shattering windows and throwing pieces of dirt and mortar into the air. He heard the women scream, but that could have been his imagination.

Several men then appeared, barging through side doors and moving slowly up the now devastated alley. "Wow, someone got caught!"

"Move it you idiots, chances are those damned Pirates would have heard that!"

"Oh, right!"

There were five of them in total, dressed in simple clothes and carrying makeshift weapons, mallets, pitchforks, kitchen knives, the only weapon which looked designed to fight was an old, rusty katana held by the man in the lead. The five of them approached the mouth of the alleyway slowly, cautiously.

"How many did we get?" one of the men in the back asked with nervous anticipation.

There was a moment of silence, "None."

"What?"

"There are no bodies here."

"Hey there's some girls down the alley."

"Oh lord help me did we get one of them!"

A low tap brought the men's attention to behind them, just in time to see Jack land on his feet, blowing out a breath of air in relief. "Wow man that was too close. I was almost charcoal there!"

"Who the hell are you!?" the leader shouted, and his men complied by forming a line with him, hefting their makeshift weapons.

Jack eyed each man for a brief moment as he dusted himself off, before sighing. "Put those things down before you hurt yourselves."

"What!?" the leader exclaimed in outrage.

"You guys obviously aren't fighters, and you're out of your league." Jack continued, balling his hands into fists and slamming them together with a dull clang of metal. "Put those weapons down, or I'll _make _you put them down!"

The men were rattled, if not by him dodging their booby-trap or by the iron gauntlets which covered his hands then by the murderous glare in his ice blue eyes, anyone of the five men who looked into them at that moment felt like they were in a blizzard.

"You," the leader growled, pointing his katana right at him. "You're a Pirate aren't you!?"

Jack grinned, "That's right."

"Then we can't back down," one of the other men shouted. "Not until we throw all of you off our island!"

"Look guys, I'm a Pirate but I'm not with those guys who've been attacking you. I just want to load up on provisions, and get the hell out of here."

"Yeah right, why should we believe the words of a Pirate!" one of the men shouted angrily. "We've already heard those empty promises from your Captain, give me your valuables and then I'll leave he said! We're not falling for it this time, get the hell off our island and never come back!"

"That's right, get out!"

"Don't underestimate the people of Andorra Town!"

"Oh, is that so." Jack's grin got wider, but he felt anger bubbling to the surface. He didn't have time for this. Never a patient guy was Jack D. Booth. "Admirable, you guy's definitely got the words right... but what about your actions. Will they speak with the same resolve!?"

"Get him!"

"By all means come at me," Jack said with a grin. "Try and put up a fight, but I warn you that the only one's who'll get hurt are you!"

"Wait!"

There was another man in the alley, which meant that Jack was surrounded, but that worry died when he turned and saw who was blocking his way. He was an old man, tall and lean, with a head of white hair and a well trimmed moustache and goatee, he stood with an air of strength and power in both his eyes and gait.

"Old man, don't interfere!"

"Silence you young pups," the old man scolded harshly. "Just one look at this man tells me all I need to know. You'll never last more than three seconds against him!"

"Grandpa!"

Everyone turned in time to see ponytail round the corner, and run past both Jack and the men towards the old man. His eyes widened in surprise before he smiled in relief, it was like ten years of stress had fallen from him. "Naru?"

"I'm here, I'm okay," she said hastily as she skidded to a stop, but before she could utter another word the old man enveloped her in a tight embrace, one which she seemed surprised by but quickly got used too, she returned it with a smile and wet eyes.

"How did you get away?" he asked, parting from ponytail, or Naru.

She pointed a thumb at Jack, "Him."

"You can't be serious," one of the men scowled. "This _Pirate _saved you?"

"He did," she countered, turning to glare at him. "He just came to shore, beat up a dozen men, used those gloves of his to break our shackles and helped us get away. He's not with the Maze Pirates, I can tell you that much."

As she spoke the other three girls pocked their heads into the side alley and tentatively entered. The men in the group recognised them immediately once they were in plain sight, and the women seemed to sag in relief upon recognising some familiar, friendly faces. One of them started sobbing, even as one of the men tried to sooth her.

"What is your name?" the old man asked.

"Jack," he replied, folding his arms. "My name is Jack Booth."

It was such a small thing, barely recognisable for anyone who didn't know when or where to look for it. A slight widening of the eyes, recognition which was quickly schooled by years of training which had started to get rusty.

Jack allowed a fierce smile to cross his features, and he knew the old man knew. "You're not just some old man, I know that much."

"I'm glad you understand Pirate, not many people seem to do. My name is Genrei, I was the Manager of the Docks here before those Pirates came in and wrecked the place." Now that he stood fully within his line of vision Jack saw that he may be old, but he was by no means suffering from his age. "I have a request for you."

"And what might that be?" Jack asked, guarded.

"Help us rid ourselves of these Pirates," Genrei said without shame. "My granddaughter usually has a good eye when it comes to assessing a person, and if what she said was true we'll need someone with your strength, and if you also freed these girls then you must have a sense of honour and decency."

"Flattery can get you somewhere, despite the saying."

"Name your price, Pirate."

Jack thought for a long moment, "Provisions for my boat and an up-to-date map of the South Blue... if I get those you have a deal."

"Done," Genrei said without a moment of hesitation.

"Shake on it, old man." Jack closed the distance and extended his hand. Genrei did so without hesitation. "Now we have a deal."

"What the hell are you doing!" the leader shouted angrily, "Making alliances with a bloody Pirate!"

"Shut it Mori," Genrei growled back. "I want those Pirates off my dock and out of the town before they try to do anything else. The more allies we have in making sure that happens the better as far as I am concerned!"

"There are Pirates coming," one of his men whispered harshly.

"How many?" Genrei asked.

"About a dozen or so, bastards must have heard the explosion from the trap."

"We can't fight them here," the old man said, moving a few steps down the side alley and out into the street across, "Not with the women here. Quick everyone this way."

Jack was tempted to tell the old man that there was no need to hide, that if these guys were anything like the ones he fought down at the docks then he'd have no problem taking them out, but he needed more information on what was going on. He wanted to know more about his enemy, there were non-combatants amongst their number who could very possibly get hurt, and just going into a fight half-cocked wasn't usually his style.

So he followed the old man and his little entourage down the alley, out into another main street and into another alley. They came to a door which the old man opened, shooing them inside and closing it, locking the door behind him. Jack found himself in a kitchen which led to a large open space, a bar was in the corner and tables and chairs were thrown haphazardly around. He guessed this must have been the towns tavern before the raiding started. Genrei was now seated on one of the chairs as his men checked through the closed shutters.

"Izumi, Quistis, Yumi," he said, gaining the other three women's attention. "Jameson will take you all into the kitchen in the back. Keep out of sight."

The three women nodded and followed Jameson into the kitchen, closing the door behind them. Genrei looked over at his granddaughter with a frown, only to be met with the utmost of defiance. "Naru, you go too."

She shook her head, ponytail flailing. "No, I'm staying."

The old man frowned at her, indecision in his eyes for a brief moment before he turned to one of his men. "How's it looking out there?"

"Like a bloody hornets' nest," one of the nameless men replied.

"No way we can fight that many."

"What are we going to do chief?"

Genrei sighed, bringing up a heavily calloused hand to rub his goatee, "There's nothing for it, we're going to need to go back and get more help."

"We're not going to get it," Mori growled. "You heard what that coward of a Mayor said. He won't send anyone in here until the Pirates are gone."

"And I won't bring a Pirate to the camp, no matter what you say old man." The third snarled, glaring daggers at Jack from across the room.

"Watch it Gorou," Genrei warned. "He may call himself a Pirate but I trust what my granddaughter said she saw down at the docks. He beat up about a dozen of Maze's men by himself."

"He also sunk their ship," Naru replied dismissively.

"He did what!" the second man hissed. "He sunk their ship... well that settles it then if they weren't going to butcher us before they definitely will now."

"Quiet down Tozen, they'll hear you," Mori growled.

"How the hell did he sink that ship," Gorou frowned.

Jack shrugged, "One of the guys was partial to throwing bombs around, so I punched him through the hull of his ship with a lit one. He must have hit the powder magazine or something."

"The explosion was quite spectacular actually, just crash and then... boom," Naru added, making the relevant signs with her hands.

"You punched him _through _the hull," Mori asked, astounded as he looked to the only woman in the room for confirmation and got it. "Just how strong are you?"

"Quite a bit," Jack replied, before turning back to the old man. "What can you tell me about these guys?"

"What do you need to know?" Genrei asked.

"Everything," Jack replied.

The old man leaned back in his chair, humming to himself as he folded his arms and thought. "They're a fairly recent Pirate crew, only started to be known a few years ago. That particular crew is led by a notorious youngster called Basil _The Butcher _Maze, bloodthirsty type, considered a fairly decent swordsman, has a bounty of twelve million Beli for his part in raiding the shipping lanes and commandeering a Frigate from the Marines."

"A Frigate," Jack frowned."That ship I sunk definitely wasn't a Frigate, more of a Caravel actually."

"Yeah, that was their old ship," Genrei replied. "The father gave it to the son when he upgraded."

"_Oooh_ I can feel a headache coming on." Jack ground out, and he meant it.

He had expected to run into other Pirates eventually, and running into them on his first port wasn't planned by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time he could muddle through. But dealing with a Pirate crew which boasts more than one ship wasn't something he wanted to deal with yet.

"Chances are that brat Maze has called his father, or will soon enough." The old man continued, a glint of mischief in his eyes despite the situation, no doubt he took a little mad glee in Jack's discomfort. "And from what I heard as bad as the son is the father is worse. His name is Dorian Maze, about my age, has a bounty of fifteen million Beli and is known by the title of Dorian the _Cleaver_."

"Wonderful," Jack sighed, massaging his face with the cool metal of his gauntlet. Yep, he hadn't been out on his own for a week and he was already in the thick of it, his sensei was right, trouble just seems to fall on his lap and ask for a beating. "What's the crew strength?"

"At the moment, discounting the guys you took out already about twenty, but when the rest of them show up the numbers are going to soar to at least seventy." The old man answered, rising to his feet and giving Jack a piercing look. "You're little punch-up may get everyone on this island killed."

"So says the man who sets booby traps in side alleys," Jack quipped in response.

Genrei blinked at him, and then chuckled to the surprise of Jack and the men in the room. "You have a point there. To tell the truth we were planning on attacking at some point anyway once we got enough of those explosive traps set. I would rather die than allow my granddaughter become some rich man's plaything."

"Chief, they're moving on." Mori whispered.

"Time to go then," Genrei nodded. "Follow us, and stay down. The camp the rest of the village set up is in the island interior. Mori, go and tell the rest of them we'll be moving out in the next few minutes."

"Why haven't the Pirates attacked there yet," Jack asked, frowning. This wasn't a very big island if he remembered the charts he read during the trip, barely a few kilometres across. Any concentrated Pirate raid should have swept across the island like a hurricane.

"Old superstition," the old man replied. "A demon inhabits the interior."

Jack felt like laughing at the old man's words. Demons were just old folktales told by people ignorant of the world. They would see a Devil Fruit user or a highly skilled warrior and call them demons. He didn't laugh though as he watched them react. The men actually seemed torn between going back to the camp and staying here with the Pirates. Only Genrei, Mori and Naru seemed devoid of any fear to whatever this demon was, Naru even seemed a little miffed at it even being mentioned.

He frowned at them. "You're kidding right?"

One of the windows at the front of the tavern shattered, a small black object hit the floor and rolled to a stop. The lit fuse, burning away, allowed the small ensemble of people the time to realise that they were looking at a bomb.

Jack looked down at the object for a few seconds, "Oh shi-"

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 1 completed, for those of you reading both this and TGLU I already have a good portion of the next chapter completed. Should be out within the next week.<em>

_Wow, I wasn't expecting to get this kind of a response, I was expecting just three reviews tops (If any at all), but to get nine reviews, eights favourites and fourteen alerts, well, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who decided to give this story a chance. It means a lot to me :). _

_And to answer a question to the anonymous reviewer, yes, for now In the End is on permanent Hiatus until I say otherwise, further info on my stories can be seen on my profile page. It'll show anyone interested the stories which are still being worked on, the ones on hiatus, the ones I have removed and the ones which are finished._


	3. Definitely Not Dockworkers

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Definitely Not Dockworkers**_

The explosion echoed all the way to the dock, and from his crate Basil Maze looked up and allowed a small smile to spread across his face, the explosion was followed by a series of blasts punctuated by a new plume of smoke slowly ascending into the sky from the east side of the town.

Now that looked promising.

"Captain," Maze's gaze turned slowly to the nameless Pirate as he approached. "The Vice-Captain has just got into contact. He has found the enemy and is currently engaging!"

"I'm not blind or deaf you idiot," Maze scowled at the man, who shrank away from his wrath. "I can see that from here!"

"Ah, yes Captain... I'm sorry to have disturbed you sir!"

"Use your time for better ventures, like informing me when the Commodore arrives," Maze continued, casting a glare which would have made any man shake and quiver in fear. "I do not expect to see you again until that information comes, understand?"

"Yes c-captain!" the Pirate stuttered.

"Step to it then!"

The man couldn't have left Mazes presence fast enough, much to the sniggering of the experienced Pirates that surrounded him. Basil glared at the man's retreating back for a few moments before turning back to the town and watching as another explosion went off into the distance. He allowed a small smile at the sound. It looked like Clyde was determined to make sure no one survived his little barrage.

Another explosion echoed to the docks.

A truly sinister smile stretched the Captains lips at the sound.

"Uh, is everyone alright!?"

Genrei's voice filtered into Jack's ringing ears as he opened his eyes and sat up, a metal hand reaching up to massage his aching forehead and showing blood when he looked down at it. A piece of debris must have hit him when the bomb went off, he was thrown back from the impact, managing to cross his hands together and protect himself from most of the damage.

He foggily remembered the old man grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and hauling him behind the bar, the solid oak structure weathering the follow-up explosions as more bombs were thrown into the tavern. His first thought once the ringing stopped and his mind cleared was how the hell the old man had moved so fast.

"Mori, are you alright!" Genrei bellowed.

"Yeah," the dockworker replied with a grunt. "I'm alright!"

"Naru, are you alright?"

There was no answer, and Jack looked around, "Answer if you're still breathing ponytail!"

"Owe," a feminine voice groaned as she sat up, pieces of timber falling from her form as she shook herself. "Stop calling me that!"

"Owe isn't good enough, answer me!"

"Son of a... yes gramps, I'm fine!"

"Gorou, Marcus, Clive, Tosen answer me dammit!" the old man called into the partially caved in pub.

"I'm here!"

"Me too!"

"God dammit I think I cracked a rib!"

"Where's Clive!"

A moment of silence, "He's dead, chief!"

"Shit!"

Jack rose to a knee, shaking his head to remove the sudden bout of nausea before managing to get to his feet, stumble and place a hand on the bar to keep his balance. Hollowed out cannon balls filled with gunpowder and lit by a fuse, now those were designed to kill. They were lucky there was only one casualty.

A voice echoed from the shattered windows, "I know you're in there, come out and die like men or stay there and burn! There's no escape for you!"

"That voice." Mori muttered as he stood beside Genrei, "If I'm not mistaken that sounds like Mazes Second in Command, the notorious _Bombardier _Eric Clyde."

"Well that explains the bombs," Genrei ground out as he lifted his metal hammer and leaned it against his muscular shoulder. The fire from the explosion was already spreading, and smoke was already filling the room, soon their only choices would be to try and punch through the Pirates out front or stay in here and suffocate.

"The side door will be out of the question," Mori continued. "He'll have someone guarding it, but there is a trapdoor in the cellar, leads all the way to the outskirts of town. The women can escape through there while we keep their attention on us."

"Yeah," Genrei nodded. "It's been a while since I've been in a fight, gonna be rusty."

A click of the tongue could be heard, "Don't forget that'll go for me too sir."

Marines, that was the first thought which flashed in Jack's mind as he watched the two men banter, no normal dockworkers would talk like that. These men were either former soldiers or former marines, and with the number of Marine ports and bases in the South Blue he was more than willing to guess the latter.

"Gorou, Marcus, Tosen while we hold them escape through the cellar, it's under the wine casks, take the girls with you and warn the rest of the village. These guys will definitely be coming for them next," Genrei ordered, and the three other men nodded before going to their downed friend, obviously meaning to take him with them. "Leave him, he's dead and he'll only slow you down."

"But chief, we can't just leave him here!"

"Don't argue with me," the old man hissed. "Just hide behind the bar and be ready to run!"

The three men looked uncertain, but eventually nodded and moved to cover behind the bar. With that out of the way the old man turned to Jack, settling a piercing gaze on him, a challenging gaze. "Are you still in?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I'm still in."

The old man turned to his granddaughter, "Naru, go with them."

"Not a chance," she replied stoutly, a ghost of a smile on her face as she hopped over the counter.

Genrei growled low under his breath, "This isn't a game child."

"You think I don't know that, old man?" she asked, clinks of bottles could be heard as she rummaged through the counter shelves. "You trained me to defend myself, so let me defend myself."

"When you lot are quite ready," Jack sighed, exasperated as he waited. "Those Pirates ain't going to stay quiet all day."

She slid back over the countertop, a pair of long bladed butchers knives in her slender hands. Naru gave a few practice swings before nodding in acknowledgement and spinning the one in her left hand into a reverse grip. She then turned to her grandfather, seeing him frown at her which she returned with an easy smile. "Ready."

"Good, stay close to me." Genrei allowed with a grave nod before turning to the still closed front doors and walking towards them, Mori followed him and Jack and Naru followed suit. The three men and one woman closed the distance as the same rough voice echoed through the windows.

"You know what; throw a couple more of those bombs in there, that'll speed them along!"

Jack picked up the pace, moving past Genrei, Naru and Mori. His fist was raised and reeled back for a punch on the doors. When his metal gauntlets connected the door creaked, then splintered. The hinges gave way and the heavy oak went flying out into the street, landing on the ground and skidding to a stop.

"A little over the top son," Genrei quipped as he walked past unperturbed.

Jack shrugged, "A little theatrics is good in situations like this."

The old man scoffed in reply, "I prefer action to petty words or theatrics."

"If you say so old man," Jack replied nonchalantly. "I prefer a little psychological warfare. Consider it an appetiser to the main course."

True enough his little stunt had definitely caught the Pirates attention. At least ten of them stood in a rough semi-circle around them, armed with swords and firearms as they looked at them with murder in their eyes. At the lead was a tall man, dressed in a long black coat and hefting what looked like a miniature cannon over his broad shoulders. He was about the same height and width as Jack, with short brown hair, round features and black sesame seed eyes.

"Ah, so you finally came out have you?" the man asked with a malicious grin. He walked a few steps towards them, and Jack could make out dark clothes under the coat, and a crisscross of belts holding the same bombs from earlier. "I suppose you'll want to know the name of your killer, filthy retches. My name is Eric Clyde, the _Bombardier_, and First-Mate of the infamous Basil Maze of the Maze Pirates!"

"So that's the _Bombardier_?" Jack asked, sizing the man up. He was definitely strong if he was able to heft that cannon with him, even small ones like that weighed a good bit being made of iron.

"Yeah, that's him." Genrei confirmed, widening his stance and hefting his heavy metal hammer into his right hand. "It'll be best to let me handle that one lad, help Mori and Naru with the small fry and-"

"Not a chance, he's mine." Jack cut in, strolling past the old man and right up to the cannon wielding Pirate. He stood there, a few steps from him, watching him for a long moment before allowing a toothy grin to spread across his features. "I like your coat."

The Pirate, also miffed by the sudden exchange, tilted his head. "Uh, thanks."

"I think I'll take it," Jack continued, his smile now showing a slightly sinister edge.

"Huh?"

"You see I'm going to be a Pirate Captain soon, so I might as well start to look the part," Jack added, feeling the need to explain. "And let's face it the Gauntlets are nice and intimidating, but a vest and shorts aren't. That coat will be a nice new addition."

Clyde looked at him for a short moment in disbelief, before a snigger escaped his lips, followed by roaring laughter from the surrounding Pirates. "Well, aren't you confident!?"

"Yes," Jack agreed, and in a blur of motion he moved. His right hand closed into a fist, and flashed forward, burying itself into Clyde's abdomen. There was a crack of bone and a sudden cut-off cry of pain as the tall man doubled over in pain, dropping his cannon with a loud clank and a mess of dust as it hit the ground. "I suppose I am!"

Genrei, Naru and Mori looked on with wide eyes and disbelief as the Pirate stumbled forward, Jack stepping to the side to allow him to pass, before falling onto his knees and then onto his side, rolling up into an agony induced ball. There was a moment of silence, broken by an exclamation of disbelief. The surrounding Pirates, once so full of confidence now seemed to be on the verge of panic.

"The Vice-Captain is down!"

"What the hell!"

"It's true, he's down!"

"But he's invincible!"

Jack scoffed, gaining their attention. "Is this it? Is this the firepower of the infamous Maze Pirates!?"

"What did you say!?" one of them shouted.

"Don't you dare look down on us you lucky little brat!"

"Just for that," one of the others shouted, before turning to the other three, deciding to single Mori out because he was the only one of the three not to have a weapon, and drawing his sabre charged the dockworker. "Just for that say goodbye to your friend here!"

He made it all the way to the dockworker. Genrei didn't move a finger much to Jack's surprise. He was about to try and intercept, but knew he wouldn't make it in time. Mori cracked his neck, bent his knees, fell into a stance, waiting for the Pirate to be within a few steps of him, sidestepped the thrusting sabre and delivered a fist right into his sternum. The Pirate staggered from the blow, before receiving a right straight which sent him falling backwards, head snapping from the force of the blow.

His sabre flew upwards out of his grasp, and landed in Mori's outstretched hand. The dockworker then inspected the blade, and scoffed, "It's in poor condition."

Genrei chuckled, "What did you expect from a Pirate."

Moro shrugged, absently tossing the sword from one hand to the other to test its weight, then looked at the assembled mass of jittery Pirates. "For this group of cannon fodder it should do."

Jack watched them for a moment as the three dockworkers set upon the Pirates with the single minded focus of what he thought they were, before stepping over to the downed Clyde and kicking him onto his back. The man looked up at Booth, half blinded by pain and half by fear as the gauntlet wearing man smiled with deceptive innocence down at him.

"May I have that coat now, please?"

Clyde couldn't get the coat off fast enough.

Jack happily took the coat, a smile on his face as he shrugged the dirty dark fabric onto his shoulders. He gave the so-called _Bombardier _a wink and then knocked him out with a well placed kick right to his face as he tried to lean on his elbows. The Pirate was out the second the back of his head collided with the dirt ground. The leader unconscious, and now with the broken nose to go with his cracked ribs he turned and eyed his allies.

Genrei was the first to gain his attention. For a man who was well on in years he certainly moved like a man half, no, a third of his age. He obviously wasn't used to fighting with something as heavy as the large hammer he had procured but he was still leagues ahead of his opponents in fighting style, downing three within a few seconds.

Mori struck him as a man still in his prime, and one who knew almost instinctively how to fight with a sword. The way that he moved, his footwork, his swordplay, his every motion was honed through years of training followed by years of firsthand experience in battle. He downed as many men as Genrei did in roughly the same amount of time.

Naru also caught his attention, for a member of the group who didn't have the training or the experience of her peers she certainly didn't let it show. She moved swiftly and elegantly, dancing around her opponents and cutting them to ribbons without any injury. Whoever had taught her, a novice, how to fight had taught her well.

"It's not a bad coat I suppose," Jack allowed, fingers pulling at the fabric as he took an experimental sniff of his new piece of clothing and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "But by the smell I'm guessing the bastard hasn't washed in months."

"You're probably not far wrong there, boy." Genrei replied.

"What did you expect from Pirates anyway?" Mori added.

The aftermath of the skirmish would tell anyone with half a brain that it didn't go well for the Maze Pirates. Men lay unmoving on the ground, their weapons scattered. Naru, Genrei and Mori stood around their own circles of unmoving half-dead men, no wounds to speak off other than some blood spatter.

"No offence old man, but when you had us running from house to house I was expecting these guys to be tougher than this." Jack surveyed the scene of destruction with narrowing eyes as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I mean this was just an embarrassment."

"Hmm," Genrei allowed, free hand massaging his white goatee. "While I do find your confidence refreshing I also find it quite irritating. These were nothing but the grunts boy, even that man Clyde was Vice-Captain in name only."

"Old man," Mori's voice brought the two men and one womans attention to the third of their group. Mori's attention wasn't on them but looking at the direction of the port. It didn't take long for Genrei and Jack to see what had caught the dockworkers attention.

White sails, towering over the timber buildings. Jack could make out three of them peering over the structures, the first one which caught Jack's attention was the central Main-mast, towering over anything manmade which surrounded it, and from seeing it he caught sight of the Fore-mast and Mizzen-mast. At the top of the Main-mast, over the crows-nest was a flag fluttering in the wind, black with a skull and crossbones, in the hollow sockets of the skulls eyes were red gems and a third vertical eye.

"That's a big ship," Naru muttered in awe, probably knowing she was stating the obvious but honestly unable to say much else.

"Galleon I'd say." Genrei added in agreement. "Three hundred tons easy, crew of eighty at least... probably has roughly around thirty guns."

"No doubt about it sir, that has to be the _Regicide_." Mori said as he walked up beside the old dockmaster and eyed the masts with contempt, "The personal ship of Commodore Maze, flagship of the Maze Pirate Flotilla."

"Yeah, and the number of Pirates on that dock are about to swell." Genrei saw the impatience in Jacks eyes, and decided to cut in before the young Pirate could say anything foolish. "We can't fight that many, not without help."

"Thirty, a hundred, who cares," Jack scoffed as he came alongside the old man, ignoring the murderous glare Mori sent his way. "If they're anything like this lot then we can beat them easy, might take a little more time but-"

Genrei cut him off before he could utter another word, "The Pirates you've been fighting up till now were amateur's boy, nothing but a bunch of wannabes being tested to see if they had the stones for Piracy. The crew of that ship are the true fighting force of the Maze Pirates. They are all experienced fighters, all killers and cutthroats to the last and their elites are definitely worthy of the title elite."

Jack frowned, "So the Maze Pirates are really that bad?"

"The ones under the Commodore, yes," Genrei answered, folding his arms.

There was a long moment of silence, then a sigh of defeat, "So what's the plan then? I hope you're not going to run back to your people and hope they don't follow you."

"Nope, I would never lead these wolves to our door, but we need more people if we're going to have even a slight chance of fighting them off." Genrei chuckled and then turned to Mori, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. "Head back to the village, and make sure you're not followed. Tell the Mayor that there's nowhere to hide anymore and arm the people."

Mori nodded, "What are you going to do?"

The old man smiled, and then turned to the mountain in the very centre of the island, towering over them like a vengeful god. Jack followed the old man's gaze, watching and waiting. "Me and the Pirate are going up the mountain."

"You're going to ask the _Demon on the Mountain_ for help are you?" Mori asked.

"More or less, yeah."

"I'm going too then," Naru replied, sighing as she gave her grandfather a knowing look, "Last time you went up there was a fistfight, unlike you she actually likes me."

"This so-called Demon sounds very likable." Jack smirked. "I'm guessing she's not actually a demon though, right?"

"I don't believe so, but she is very good when it comes to fighting," Genrei replied. "As a swordswoman I have seen very few who have the skill of that woman, her ability at times almost seems supernatural. The problem is she might not even lift a finger to help."

"She'd rather watch the town burn," Mori scowled.

"Now there must be a story behind that."

"There is, not a pleasant one, but there is." Genrei allowed, eyeing his granddaughter for a moment. "Alright, you can come."

Naru grinned.

"Well then, now that that's out of the way shall we go see your _Demon on the Mountain_?"

* * *

><p>The very moment the <em>Regicide <em>docked its landing ramps came down, landing on the concrete surface of the longest pier. A horde of Pirates rushed forth onto the pier of the town, and unlike those from before these ones had the aura of Pirates.

Still Basil Maze remained seated on his crate as several of the new arrivals moved past him. Their every step was made with confidence and strength, their sabres chipped and their pistols dimmed by years of use in combat. He did not move from his spot until a shadow loomed over him, and without even a hint of fear he looked up at the foreboding figure of his father with the same defiance as he got in return.

The Commodore was taller than him, the crown of the Captains head barely reaching his chest. His very breath was like a strong gust of wind, his eyes were scathing as red hot embers, his scarred features showed nothing but malice and his brown hair half hidden by a black cocked hat, he wore a black buttoned shirt and pants with knee high black boots, a black longcoat with white fur lining was draped over his shoulders.

Commodore Dorian Mazes scathing gaze fell upon the smouldering wreckage of the smaller Caravel, dwarfed by his own ship. He then looked back at his son. He clicked his tongue and spoke, his voice a deep gravelly pitch not unlike the rumblings of a volcano.

"What have you done to my ship, boy?"

Basil looked up at his father, seemingly uncaring of the heavy aura in the air. The murderous glare of the Commodore which would have sent chills down the spine of ordinary men was shrugged off by the young Captain, who met the glare with an impassive gaze of his own. "I did nothing. This happened while I was away."

A sniff from the Commodore, "Oh, is that a fact?"

"It is," Basil responded with a nod. "I left a handful of men behind to guard the ship, but someone attacked them. When you gave me that ship you told me I would have an experienced crew, but I don't. The dozen men I left to defend the ship were beaten by one man, one man!"

"Do not blame me for your failures, boy." The Commodore snarled in response, folding his arms under the folds of his longcoat. "I gave you that ship and crew so you can prove to me that you're ready for your own command, which apparently you aren't."

The snarl was now mirrored by his son, but he didn't rise to the bait. Dorian watched his son before turning back to the town. "So it seems there is more here than a bunch of peasants wielding pitchforks, eh?"

"It would seem that way." Basil ground out.

A sinister smile spread across the older Mazes gnarled features, "Looks like the villagers managed to flee from your assault, if the silence of the town and a lack of prisoners tell me anything. Tell me boy, are you competent enough to find where they have gone?"

Basil growled low in his throat, but nodded. "The Island is fairly small. As you know the town is in a cove, in the centre of the island is a large mountain surrounded by a thin layer of forest. At the top of the mountain is an old shrine, but it is in a state of neglect and doesn't look like it's been inhabited for quite some time. The townspeople appear to have setup camp at the base of the steps, in a clearing."

Dorian clicked his tongue, doubting that the shrine was abandoned like his son claimed. The ringing noises he heard on the way in were definitely from a bell and didn't come from the town. "And you didn't raid this settlement, because?"

"I had thirty Pirates... there are at least a few hundred people camped there and the men have armed themselves with makeshift spears and pitchforks, even a few scavenged firearms. It wasn't worth the risk."

"You _had _thirty?" The Commodore asked with a raised brow.

The Captain nodded, "A single man took out my ships guard... one of my men was conscious enough to give me a brief description, brown hair and iron fists."

"Iron fists, so someone with gauntlets then." the elder Maze pondered, "What an interesting choice of weapon. He should be quite easy to pinpoint with those weapons."

"A mercenary the townspeople have hired no doubt," Basil said, allowing a smile. "But now that you're here we can finish what we started, I'll take fifty men and raise that little camp of theirs to the ground."

"No, you won't." Dorian said dismissively, already turning to walk away as the smile dropped from the younger mans features. "You have caused enough trouble for one day. I will deal with this myself. You make sure the loot is stowed on the ship, do you think you can do that, boy?"

Raw fury burned in the Captains eyes as he watched his father's retreating back, his teeth grinding together as his hand twitched towards the hilt of his sword, but he relaxed his hand and took a deep breath, "Yes, father."

The old Commodores only response was a grunt as his men flanked him down the pier, one of his men presenting a sheathed cleaver which he drew from the sheath in a smooth motion and placed the broad end of the blade against his shoulder. Soon the number of Pirates following him swelled to over forty.

"Alright lads, let's do a little raiding, what do ya say!?"

A roar of agreement resonated through the crowd.

* * *

><p><em>I'm a little late, sorry about that, but here's the next chapter for you guys. Thanks to everyone for the support and I hope I can keep you interested, as always leave a review if you have any ideas or would like to ask any questions about the characters or plot, PM's will do as well.<em>


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